Outdoor Living

You are currently browsing the archive for the Outdoor Living category.

Throw a green summer picnic

June 19, 2009 in Holiday, Outdoor Living by Jennifer | 2 comments

With the 4th of July coming up, and summer already in full swing, you may be thinking picnic! There are some easy steps you can take to green any picnic event.

Start with some green grilling:

  • Make sure you’re grilling as green as you can on an eco-friendly barbecue.
  • Grill veggies over meat (I know crazy) but vegetarian dishes are far more eco-friendly. At the very least cut out half the meat. Grilled corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and more are just as tasty, better for the earth, and better for your health.
  • Put that fire out. It’s really not earth-friendly to burn down the forest, or even your backyard.

Pack an eco-friendly picnic basket. Make sure you pack non-disposable dishes, cloth napkins, and real silverware. If you must go with disposables at least snag some biodegradable disposable dishes.

Carpool to the picnic area if a lot of folks are going.

Take eco-friendly picnic activities along for the kiddos (and you). You can grab an earth-friendly Frisbee or a kid friendly outdoor eco-toy.

Block the sun with eco friendly sunglasses, non-toxic safe bug spray and healthy natural sunscreen.

Don’t feed the animals – it can cause more problems than you think.

If there’s a lake take along some eco-friendly swimwear.

If you need to mark the picnic spot, say for a family reunion picnic, don’t use balloons which can be set free and harm animals out in nature. Use paper streamers or brightly colored cloth. Be sure to take these items with you when you leave.

Are you planing a green picnic soon? Are you doing anything else (besides what’s noted above) to keep it green.

How to choose the best green grill – eco-friendly barbecue

February 23, 2009 in Outdoor Living by Jennifer | 1 comment

We’ve been looking at earth friendly barbecue ideas – yes it is almost spring. In case you need to catch up read…

Now, what about how to choose the best green grill? Grills overall are actually more earth-friendly than cooking in your kitchen. Many grills cook fast and beyond that have less of an impact than other stuff we do (think leaving the tv on, driving, etc.). However, you can be extra mindful and choose the greenest grill option possible.

There are various options when it comes to grills – gas grills (propane or natural gas), charcoal grills, wood fire grills (or just cooking over an open fire basically), solar grills, and electric grills. Solar is your hands down most eco-friendly choice, and currently, there are many options for solar cookers. They may not all grill as perfectly or as grillish as your typical barbecue, but they get the job done and have a low footprint.

Natural gas is your second best option (for the planet). Natural gas obviously has its own issues (um, offshore drilling) but in a purely eco-sense, it’s more friendly than say, electric.

Charcoal and wood are the least earth-friendly of all your grill choices, although, lately some charcoal and grill briquette options have emerged that are noted for being more eco-friendly than the typical charcoal. Keep in mind though, by eco-friendly, I mean only slightly more so – overall, all charcoal and briquette options release soot and toxins into the air which is not healthy for you or the planet.

Solar grill options and ideas:

Solar-powered barbecue

Build A Solar Cooker

Solar oven

Extra gear – Solar-Powered Barbecue Light

What sort of outdoor barbecue have you been using?

Green Barbecue Accessories

February 23, 2009 in Outdoor Living by Jennifer | 2 comments

Last week we started looking at green grilling in, How Earth Friendly is Your Backyard Barbecue?

Today we’ll look at some green barbecue accessory options.

Solar Grill Read the rest of this entry »

How Earth Friendly is Your Backyard Barbecue?

February 20, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink, Outdoor Living by Jennifer | No comments

With spring coming up fast, you may be thinking about grilling and backyard barbecue fun. But, how green is a barbecue? If you have one are you single handily killing the planet?

Eco-issues of barbecues – how to green your cookout:

According to CNN, “The carbon footprint of backyard grilling is not that significant compared to what people do in their everyday lives. Lights, TVs, cars, these are much more significant than grilling.” Which is good news. If you love barbecues, make sure you stay green in other areas to offset the issue.

You can green your grilling experience by grilling with gas or charcoal  – both better than gas or electric. Later we’ll look at some greener grill option.

Buy organic – organic meats for sure (there are tons o’ pesticides in conventional meats), get organic brew to drink, in season seafood, and organic veggies to grill too. Also think local. Locally bought food supports the economy and offsets long transport energy issues.

Use real plates, silverware, cups, and cloth napkins. Disposables are icky for the earth and frankly, don’t hold food as well. IF you must use disposables, use items made from easy to compost and biodegradable materials (corn starch and potato starch or 100% recycled for example.)

Don’t use toxins to fight bugs at your cookouts. DEET, the main component in most bug repellents is bad for your health and the earth. Use natural options.

Next up some other green barbecue tips to get you prepped for spring – from grills to organic recipes and more.

CedarWorks: Custom, Eco-Friendly Swingsets

October 27, 2008 in Children & Babies, Outdoor Living by Jennifer | No comments

I know you may not be thinking about swingsets right now; heck, summer is over. However, a custom swingset would make a great holiday gift for a lucky kid, and frankly, I like these swingsets too much to wait for summer to blog them.

CedarWorks creates beautiful quality swingsets that don’t take the aesthetics away from your yard. These aren’t typical plastic or metal swingsets, these are lovely, 100% Northern White Cedar sets.

CedarWorks has some stellar eco-goals as a company as well; which you won’t see with the typical kiddie playsets from Toys R Us. Eco-values include…
Read the rest of this entry »